-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The Hole in the Wall experiments , known as HiW , were first implemented in 1999 , when a computer with an internet connection was embedded into a wall for children to discover and use unsupervised .

The wall adjoined a slum in India . Only a month later , it was evident that the children had taught themselves to use the computer and also picked up some skills in English and mathematics . This kind of design was then set up in more and more remote areas across the nation with almost identical results . These were computers embedded in walls or kiosks in easily accessible and highly visible public spaces , facilitating peer interaction , discovery and learning in groups of children .

We concluded that groups of children from disadvantaged and remote settings can learn to use computers and access internet resources , on their own , if given appropriate free , public and unsupervised access .

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These earliest experiences also showed that children could develop some skills in English and mathematics . What came through unequivocally in this and further work on self-organizing systems in education was that groups of children -- irrespective of who or where they are , or what language they speak -- given free and public access to computers and the internet can :

1 . Become computer-literate on their own -- that is , they can learn to use computers and the internet for most of the tasks done by lay users .

2 . Teach themselves enough English to use e-mail , chat and search engines .

3 . Learn in a few months to search the internet for answers to questions .

4 . Improve their English pronunciation on their own .

5 . Improve their mathematics and science scores in school .

6 . Be prepared to pass examinations several years ahead of grade level .

7 . Change their social interaction skills and value systems .

8 . Form independent opinions and detect indoctrination .

We then went on to show that the quality of traditional schooling declines the farther schools are from the urban center of New Delhi . A similar decline is visible in the UK as one goes to more economically disadvantaged areas . This has been attributed to the lack of teachers willing to work in these areas .

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Two landmark events took this work further . The first was a comment by the late Sir Arthur C. Clarke to me : `` Teachers that can be replaced by a machine should be '' .

The second was an experiment in a Tsunami-hit Indian village , where I was trying to prove that Tamil-speaking 12-year-olds can not teach themselves biotechnology in English .

At the end of the experiment , a little girl told me , `` Apart from the fact that improper replication of the DNA molecule causes genetic disease , we have understood nothing else . ''

Finally , we found that the presence of a friendly , but not knowledgeable , mediator can enable children to reach levels of learning similar to formal schools with trained teachers .

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We went on to set up a `` cloud '' of `` eMediators , '' mostly retired schoolteachers with broadband access from their homes . Schools can access this `` cloud '' over Skype and children can interact with the mediators over free videoconferencing .

Interestingly , in the hands of good teachers , these methods can be powerful motivators for children , resulting in better performance . What started out as a solution for remote areas turned out to have universal applicability .

Both HiW and the work done later are based on the concept of Minimally Invasive Education , a pedagogic method that motivates groups of children to learn in an environment with little or no intervention from teachers or other adults , and that formed the basis of the design of the ` HiW ' computers .

It is now possible to formulate a new approach to learning , using these findings .

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Sugata Mitra .

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Sugata Mitra : Experiments show students can teach themselves with computers

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He says students showed remarkable progress by working in teams

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Adult mediators can help further this kind of learning even without formal teacher training , he says